Chapter 37 – Anticipation

"So, I'm getting this right, yes? Astrid is coming?" Snotlout asked for a nearly a hundred time now. He was grinning like some idiotic maniac who is waiting for his Christmas present. Ruffnut groaned at that silly imbecile.

"God damn it, yes! Yes, she is coming to my party! And stop it, before you ask again: Fucking YES she is coming! Will please stop asking the same question over and over again now? It's not like this is Tuff's and my party. Moreover, not like Astrid is my best friend or something," she spat at him as she tidied her room. Their parents had given them permission to us the house for their party as long as no alcohol and sex was involved. Of course, the twins agreed with crossed fingers behind their backs.

"Is she sleeping over as well?" Snotlout asked rather cheerfully. He had not seen her for quite a while now after she beat him up at Eret's party, but he shook it off as her being too shy to approach him and to apologize to him. To god's blessing, he had already forgiven her. What a good-hearted person he was, there was just no way she could resist him if he had such a big heart and chest for her.

"I don't know! We'll be either too drunk to decide or already getting knocked up by some random guy! Can you shut up now?!" the girl cried in frustration as she yanked her clothes from beneath his feet, which made him stumble.

Getting knocked up by some random guy, huh? Well he certainly was not a random guy, but either way it would be cool to get her knocked up… or laid, he was fine either way. It would boost his ego for sure. He just had to wait for the right chance. Snotlout was an ignorant person, if not totally obsessed with himself. He did not learn from mistakes and did not accept a no. Although the only exception was when his father was ordering him to do something, which he did rarely, and he would have to submit himself, even if it was against his principles. Moreover, since he was such an ignorant person, he had already forgotten how close his cousin had been with Astrid. For him, the only person worthy to be considered standing next to Astrid was himself and nobody else. He was pretty confident that Astrid would choose him in the end anyway. She might just try and gather experience with other guys before she would turn to him. Yes, that was exactly what she was doing and he was already screaming like a little girl at the thought that she will eventually be his. Well, too bad that life had another opinion of that aspect.

Fishlegs was helping Tuffnut with preparations. Tuffnut recorded the whole day, making a diary log or rather vlog of his birthday. Well, his and his sister's. Even if it was only recording how he went and bought alcohol or whatsoever. He did not upload it anyway since it was solely for him. Fishlegs broke the silence with a question that has been weighing down on his mind. "Um, can you tell me why you two and Astrid haven't been spending time with us anymore? I mean, I know that Astrid prefers to stay as far away as possible from Snotlout, but what would pull even you two away from… us?"

"I've been spending time with some crazy twins. I swear they think just like me! Here I thought that there was nobody on this earth who could think like me. But they just do! Well, that and my sister's been chasing after some hunk."

Fishlegs looked up at that comment with a raised eyebrow. Certainly, he admired Astrid for her strong personality. However, he knew that Astrid was too far for him to reach, which was the reason why he never actually developed a crush on her. He had given up before he even had the chance. That and her violence caused him to tremble every time he was near her. Respect and Fear were the only feelings he had towards her. Nevertheless, he thought that maybe things would work out between him and Ruff. Yes, she was somewhat crazy, and yes, he was the total opposite from her. But he thought he could get her with the excuse that opposites attracted each other. Now he knew though that she already had eyes for somebody else. And again, without trying he found himself giving up on someone without even trying. It was for the best anyway.

"You invited the Tech-Tech-Gang, right?" Fishlegs asked for confirmation as he took out the plastic cups and sweets. The so-called Tech-Tech-Gang was nothing but the technology club the two of them were in. They both attended the same university and figured that it might be a good way to pass their time if they joined a club.

"Of course I did. It would be no fun without my brave warriors!" Tuffnut exclaimed as he raised a fist into the air, looking too dramatic for his own good. Fishlegs just smiled at that and sat down on the couch.

"Ruff won't like it though. I think she has developed disgust towards our friends," Fishlegs scoffed nervously.

"Never you mind about that! She has her own friends that she invited. Who actually are my friends as well. Hm. Whatever. Astrid will be coming too, with her boyfriend and Barf and Belch and-"

"Wait, wait, wait!… What?!" Fishlegs interrupted him as he shook his head and gripped at his hair like his dear life was about to escape his mouth. "Astrid has a boyfriend?"

Tuffnut nodded nonchalantly and answered, "Yeah. As I already said. She and her boyfriend will be coming. In addition with Barf and Belch and-"

"Since when?!" Fishlegs interrupted him again, his eyes widened in disbelief. There was no way that the Astrid Hofferson was going out with someone. And if she did… it had to mean that the lucky guy had to be some serious god. Because that was what or who he would pair her up with.

Tuffnut, not letting the interruption influence his mood, held out his hand as if he were counting something. "Well, there was this one time when she got jealous over Stormy and Heather. Then there was this serious background story to their first meeting, which was like, ages ago. Err, well, what do you mean since when? How long she has known him? How long she wanted him? How long she's been keeping it a secret from us? Could you please be specific, like, I only have half of my brain right now! The other half is currently wooing Snotlout!"

"Ew! Don't even imagine it! I… I mean how long she's being going out with him. Or… Or how long she's been keeping it a secret…" Fishlegs voice got quieter as the sentence went on. What was that feeling? Hurt? Was he hurt because Astrid did not entrust them with her secret? He knew that she did not like to talk about these kinds of things. But it still stung to know that Astrid was interested in someone and did not even think about telling them, including him. He could understand that she did not want to tell Snotlout, but what kept her from telling Ruff, Tuff and him? Well, now that the twins know it, he was the only one he did not, next to Snotlout that is.

"Who knows," Tuffnut replied, not overthinking it at all. "She just told Ruff about her past with him. I wasn't really interested. And I think it's been over a month now since I've heard Ruff screaming from the top of her lung how Astrid had finally found her fated, or some bullshit like that."

It really was bullshit. He was spying on Ruff just out of fun and had realized that his sister was talking to Astrid over the phone. He had hidden a microphone somewhere on the back of her nightstand table. At first it seemed that his sister was only gushing about Eret but suddenly the whole topic took a serious turn as he heard his sister getting quieter with every passing second. He had turned on the volume of his headset, trying to understand what was going on. However, that move soon proved to have backfired since suddenly his sister screamed awfully close to the nightstand table, which caused the device on his head to overheat, giving out painful sounds that could easily make a shy person getting aggressive at no time. It was even worse than the sound of fingernails on the blackboard. That sound caused his interest in his sister's girl talk to fade away pretty much immediately as he pulled off his headset, throwing it as far as possible – so far his room allowed it.

"I feel so left out…" Fishlegs admitted meekly. Who would not feel that way if all your friends knew something except you. It almost borders on the feeling of betrayal, not that his friends betrayed him in any way, no. It was just the feeling that pained his overly large chest.

"So he'll attend the party as well?" the plump boy asked.

"Yeah. And he'll bring along his friends with him, who also happen to be our friends. Although I hope that some disaster will break out. I swear I'm already looking forward to Snotlout meeting Hiccup!" Tuffnut exclaimed, punching with his fist into the air.

"Hiccup?" Fishlegs raised an eyebrow at that unusual use of word, which was supposed to refer to one of his friends.

"As if Fishlegs is any better," Tuff countered, changing the settings of his camera once again. He really needed a new one, since he slowly got tired of always adjusting the camera time and time again. But still, he did not have the money or great desire to purchase it anyway. He was content with the current devices that he had ready. Most of them were self-made though.

"When will they be here?"

"Don't know man. They'll be here if they think it's time to be here. Duh, you really need to relax for once," Tuffnut criticized him.

"Yeah, well… yeah. Sorry…"

"You sure apologize for strange things."

"Yeah… sorry."

It was a strange sensation. Ever since Hiccup had returned with the Crew from Mc's, he had that dark feeling of someone watching him. At some point, he declared himself crazy and paranoid for fearing something that did not exist.

He picked up his shirt and pants that lay scattered on the ground, throwing it on the bed again. He had been ready to depart for the party. Everything had been fine. His shirt was on, his pants were on, and his vest was on as well as his shoes. He wanted to check one last time if everything was alright, seeking a mirror. The only mirrors the Crew had were either in the bathrooms or in the girl's rooms. He had waited in front of the bathroom door since it was locked. Apparently, Astrid was showering in there, getting ready for the party. He had watched the walls as if they were somehow fascinating until the lock on the door clicked.

He was about to enter the bathroom when suddenly his view was greeted with a half-naked Astrid, her body concealed in a towel as she stepped out. Her hair was down she was… wet.

"You can go in," she had encouraged him as she passed him, motioning towards his room. Like a machine that had just scanned the situation, he had two options. First, go into the bathroom and do what he wanted to do in the first place. Or second, follow the beauty that had just passed him and give her another time of her life. As one could imagine, the decision was awfully difficult to make… not. He had rushed after her, grabbing her at the wrist and dragged her into his room, locking door, followed by him pinning her arms painfully against the door. From then on it just got warmer while the air got heated by their trembling lust and desire for each other. Clothes and towels were discarded in a matter of seconds as they found their way to the bed.

Hiccup smiled at the memory of what had just happened minutes ago. He was truly blessed to have her as his girlfriend. Someone who accepted him for who he was. He still did not believe it though. Sometimes he expected it to just vanish. Everything that he had built up by himself would simply vanish, he would still live with his father and he would just exist. He would eat, drink, sleep – he would exist, but not live. He sat down at the bed and pulled his clothes on. Eventually, he felt Astrid shift under the blankets and he would move so she could wrap herself in the warmth. She blinked, looking at him with a gentle smile.

"You should get dressed, we have to go soon," he reminded her amused.

"Yeah, yeah. Ruffnut can wait."

"You sure about that?"

"Totally."

"Really?"

"Yes."

"Are you absolutely su-"

"Hiccup."

"Err, yes?"

"Shut up," she snapped as she closed her eyes again in order to relax for whatever short time she had left to enjoy his presence. After a while, she opened one of her eyes and found him watching her. She smirked. She would never get tired of him looking at her as if she were something fragile, someone he could imagine spending his life with, well, not that he had ever told her that, but she hoped that it was the case.

"Hiccup?" she whispered again.

"Hm?" he returned her gentle smile and waited for what she had to say. She bit her lip and wanted to kiss him, just because. However, instead she took his hand, slowly wrapping her fingers around his. "I love you."

"I love you too."

A/N:

Hello guys. It's been a while, huh? … Thing is, I have the concept more or less down for this story. However, I also have another idea for another HTTYD Fanfiction, which always pops into my mind when I try to concentrate on this story. So I always get both stories mixed up and get confused and yes. Thinking too much isn't really healthy… At the moment, I'm thinking about if I should continue to concentrate as much as possible onto this story, or if I should start the other story too, updating it parallel to this story. I'd rather prefer to end this one before I start any other though, but then again, if I write the other one down, I might get my mind off it. I'm really conflicted right now.

Anyway, thanks for reading as always.

Date of Update: 15th November 2015

~ KeGzZ